The viability of donor lungs could be improved, enabling more of them to be used and shortening the time patients have to wait for transplantation.
The University of Florida (UF) Health Shands Transplant Center is one of 15 US centers testing a new system that could allows donor lungs—about 80 percent of which are found unacceptable for transplant under the very high standards required for the organs—to essentially be kept alive and potentially improved to become eligible for transplant.